~ Writer in Progress

Ellie Garratt’s PASSING TIME Launch!

I am honored to join author Ellie Garratt in celebrating the launch of PASSING TIME: Nine Short Tales of the Strange and Macabre.

Fans of Poe, Lovecraft, and King will love this dark smorgasbord of beautifully crafted tales, while readers who prefer lighter fare will delight in the wonderful prose and fine storytelling. Just remember, these are not tales to lull you to sleep… unless you enjoy checking under the bed before you turn in.

My personal favorite: “The Devil’s Song”— For someone who doesn’t care about reading or writing series (see my previous post), “The Devil’s Song” revealed a dark side to penning a series even I hadn’t thought of.

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PASSING TIME:Nine Short Tales of the Strange and Macabre

Nine dark fiction stories that may just give you nightmares.

A man lives to regret Passing Time. A father will do anything to save his son in Expiration Date. An author finds out her worst nightmare is back in The Devil’s Song. A woman gets more than the claim fee when she takes out vampire insurance in Luna Black.

In Dining in Hell, the Death Valley Diner becomes the wrong place to stop.

A serial killer wants to add another file to his collection in The Vegas Screamer. In Eating Mr. Bone, an undertaker could meet an unfortunate end. A con man meets his first ghost in Land of the Free. And will truth finally be set free in The Letter?

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Excerpt from Dining in Hell

“Open the door, Hank,” I said.
He turned his face away.
“Open the bloody door or I’ll smash the window.”
He continued to ignore me. In just under forty-eight hours, I’d watched my husband and two sons succumb to the virus and been forced to decapitate them to survive. No middle-aged coward was getting in my way.
I heard Logan fumbling around in the near-darkness, and after a few seconds he appeared beside me with a large stone in his hands. He waved it in front of Hank’s window to make a point–if Hank wasn’t coming out, we’d come in. I hoped it wouldn’t come to such violence. With a hole in the side of the car, I didn’t like our chances among a horde of blood-crazed humans intent on eating our flesh.
“This is your last chance, Hank. I’m counting to five, and if you’re not out of the car by then, so help me I’ll—”
Before I could finish the sentence, his door unlocked and he kicked it open with his leg, forcing me to jump backwards.
“Just so you know, I’m going with you under duress. You understand?”
“We heard you,” I said.
Logan reached a hand into the car and pulled Hank toward him. “And just so you know, we’re sticking together so we can save your miserable behind.” His imitation of Hank’s southern accent was good, and if the situation had been different, I would have laughed.
“Okay,” I said. “Now we understand each other, let’s tool up and get Callie.”
I knew it might be too late already, but I prayed somebody up above was on our side as I popped the hood of the trunk and examined the pathetic selection of weapons we’d scavenged–two garden shovels, an ice pick, and a crossbow. The crossbow belonged to my husband, Nate. He’d been state champion at high school, and in the first few weeks of our dating he’d taken me to the range and taught me how to use it. I’d never be as good a shot as he, but if my nerves held I might be able to shoot one or two of those things before they overran us. What I wanted was Hank’s gun, but he’d made his feelings clear several times. He wasn’t surrendering it to anyone.

Unfortunately, because I’m on a blog hosted by WordPress, I can’t post the awesome javascript Rafflecopter box for this giveaway. However, if you click on the link below, it will zoom you to Rafflecopter where you can register to win Amazon Gift certificates as well as chance to have a character named after you in Ellie’s upcoming science fiction collection TAKING TIME.

A life-long addiction to reading science fiction and horror, meant writing was the logical outlet for Ellie Garratt’s passions. She is a reader, writer, blogger, Trekkie, and would happily die to be an extra in The Walking Dead. Her short stories have been published in anthologies and online. Passing Time is her first eBook collection and contains nine previously published stories. Her science fiction collection Taking Time will be published later in the year.

Thank you again for hosting me, VR. I am both humbled and thrilled by your review. The Devil’s Song is one of my favourite stories, and was inspired by a holiday cottage I once stayed in. It was winter, in the middle of nowhere and snow-bound, and the crows really did caw all day.

I think many of us are haunted by our characters, “The Devil’s Song” plays into that beautifully. 🙂

It was so cool to have a few days to read PASSING TIME before launch. Usually roll out day is the first day of availability. I loved being able to say something about the collection since I so enjoyed the stories.

I’ll be sure to register for the contest. A scary old broad like me would make a great character in a horror story. (I… gasp! … see my mother’s face when I look in the mirror!) Also, there’s a giveaway of a free autographed copy of Carol Gilgore’s book on my blog today… all ya have to do is leave a comment to be eligible.

This is such an exciting collection. Short stories are special jewels to be cherished and admired. Love to cover with such saturated hues of blue and a single man sitting on a bench and the curious cat watching.

Thanks for hosting Ellie today. She’s an exceptional writer.

I have an exclusive cover reveal posted if you get a chance to drop by, I know you enjoy them and this one is a stunning cover.

Absolutely, Michael. Ellie is a wonderful writer, and I’m looking forward to her SciFi collection later this year.

Your cover reveal for Nicki’s DIVINE TEMPTATION is incredible! Totally different type of story and voice, and still you knocked it out of the park. I’m a little sad I don’t have a cover to reveal. I’d love to see what you do with it. Someday. Save me a spot? 🙂